


Lessons In Light and Dark

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi [10]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Creepy Snoke (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, Evil Snoke, Gen, Jedi Rey, Jedi Temple, Jedi Training, Knights of the old republic references, based on one of the Last Jedi tv spots, in visions at least, the one with Rey and Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 10:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12815259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Rey learns to meditate, and also learns more about Jedi history.





	Lessons In Light and Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was one day that Luke asked her if she had ever meditated. 

“No,” Rey said. And honestly, the idea of meditating seemed all but foreign to her. Strange. The idea of simply sitting there and relaxing...it all seemed so odd. You didn’t have much time to actually do this on Jakku. 

“It’s as good a place to start as any then,” Luke said. “It keeps you in line with the Force, and it’s actually quite calming. Being a Jedi isn’t all about crushing one’s enemies. It’s about things like this too.”

“Could you teach me?” Rey said. 

“Sit down.”

Rey did. There was something uncomfortable about the rocks on the cliff of Ach-To, but it wasn’t as if Luke had decided to take his exile in a place full of featherbeds. The wind teased the bits of hair that couldn’t quite be contained by her braid. It was oddly peaceful, if also lonely. Rey wondered how Luke hadn’t gone mad in exile all this time. 

“What do I do next?” Rey said. 

“Breathe. Just breathe. Now, reach out. What do you see?”

“Light.” Warmth. But nothing like the heat on Jakku. It was more like the warmth on Ach-To; warm and welcoming, soothing, comforting. The sort of warmth that Maz Kanata has said was always there, if she just opened herself up to it. 

”Darkness.” There was the Dark Side, cold and beckoning — if the heat on Jakku felt smothering and oppressive then this felt too cold. Like being hit with a blast of ice. 

“And something else...”

Snoke’s voice again. Beckoning to her.  _Just give in to the rage, scavenger. You know you’re no better than the rest of us. You’re just a hypocrite, really and truly. You’re nothing._

“It’s calling me,” she murmured. 

Luke’s voice. “Resist it, Rey.”

_It’s your destiny, scavenger._

“REY!”

And there was something about Luke’s voice in this moment that jarred Rey back to the present. She opened her eyes, looked around, looked around at the island, reassuring herself that she was really safe, safe with Luke, and everything was all right. 

“Rey.” Luke sounded frantic. “Are you all right?”

Rey nodded, shaking. “It just doesn’t stop, does it? The call?”

”It doesn’t,” Luke said. “Our enemies will do whatever they can to lure us over to their side. Whatever you do, you cannot let them.”

”I’d never go over to their side!”

”I know, Rey. It’s a constant struggle within our...” Luke trailed off, almost as if trying to find the right way to say it. “Within our Order, actually. Though it’s actually much bigger than just the Light and the Dark.”

”Bigger?” Rey couldn’t help but be fascinated. 

Luke was quiet. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

The first Jedi Temple was nothing like Rey expected. She certainly didn’t expect this tree. This tree that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror holo, actually. Even as she stepped in, she said, “This is where — ’’

“This is the first Temple, yes,” Luke said. “Later, the Jedi spread out their teachings to other planets, such as Dantooine and Coruscant, and this place was almost completely forgotten. The Empire...during Order 66, the Emperor wanted everything of the Jedi’s destroyed, but he could never find the last piece of the map.”

”Thank goodness for that,” Rey said. 

“Yeah.” Luke gestured towards her. “Come on. The book’s in here.”

It was in the depths of the tree (and Rey could hardly imagine how anyone could have trained their students in such a small, confined space) that Rey found the book. Even reading through it, Rey couldn’t believe what she saw.

“So the Dark and the Light are two halves of the same whole?” she said.

“Yes,” Luke said. “They weren’t meant to be apart. Unfortunately, when the first Dark Jedi left the Order, he thought that they were meant to be kept separate. As did other Jedi. Instead of showing compassion, they showed hatred and fear. It’s led to a war that continues to this very day.”

”But he didn’t have to leave,” Rey said. 

Luke shook his head. “I don’t know why he left. Power? Being discontent with the Order? It could have been anything, actually. Only he knows why he left, and he’s been dead for years.” A beat. “The Jedi made many mistakes, Rey. This is no exception.”

And even going to bed that night, Rey wondered, in a way, if everything she had heard about the Jedi and Sith both in the stories on Jakku was wrong. 


End file.
